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Malappuram/MESCE/open-letter-to-HoD
Introduction Permission is granted to use Free Software instead of the proprietary software used for the lab session. We would like to thank our teachers and HoD for providing this wonderful environment to study. MES College of Engineering is a model to other engineering colleges with its support to free software. We have all our computers with GNU and campus wide network working only on Free Softwares. But We have some more problems to be solved. Though calicut university dont say anything about,the softwares that students should use for their study for the lab paper microprocessors and microcontrollers lab(ec04 607(p)), Lab in charge insists of using a particular proprietary software assembler(tasm) instead of an available,very similar NASM which is a free software written as a free implementation of its proprietary counter part. Below is an open letter to the HoD of Electronics Department of MESCE as we ece students have this problem in our labs. Letter Sub: Allowance to avoid using proprietary software in curriculum Sir, MES College of Engineering is a model to other engineering colleges for choosing Free Software for students to study. Students has produced many socially relevant Free Software projects with the support of college. It includes the Hurd project and 3 out of 60 indian students getting selected to the world wide program known as GSOC during last one year. As we all know, Education is fruitful only if the students have the right to learn.In a proprietary software environment, students have no rights to learn how the software works, and even forbids him from studying saying “the Knowledge you want is secret-Learning is forbidden”. As we all know,the most fundamental mission of Schools and colleges is to enable a student to live an upright life and to be a good citizen and to be a good neigbour. Proprietary software makes students learn the exact opposite way of ethics, that the students should NOT share and should NOT co-operate with others. The instance of problem I have here is about the software I have to use in my lab session. University syllabus is NOT mentioning about the softwares that students should use to learn assembly language in microprocessors and microcontrollers lab(EC 04 607(P)). But, contrary to the stated principles of our college,this lab session requires usage of proprietary software assembler (tasm) when there is Free Software alternatives that can be used(eg NASM). Especially nasm is having the very same syntax,that the change is very minimal that the software itself is written with the aim to have a free replacement to proprietary counter parts. The Lab in charge insisted me on using the proprietary software and adviced me to contact you if I would like to avoid this.So I request you to kindly grant permission to use the very similar NASM assembler instead of TASM, that lab in charge insisted me to use, so that I can be a good citizen and live an upright life,without surrendering my right to learn. ECE students Endorsed By # Shyam K